I'm off work and getting paid till April 7th. I'm from weatern Massachusetts. Id like to see the the tail of the dragon, the Grand Canyon and maybe Colorado. Taking mr2 and girlfriend. Plot me a corse hive mind!
I'm off work and getting paid till April 7th. I'm from weatern Massachusetts. Id like to see the the tail of the dragon, the Grand Canyon and maybe Colorado. Taking mr2 and girlfriend. Plot me a corse hive mind!
Plan and spontaneous. Aren't those kind of opposites?
Just get in the car and drive.
Expect some closed hotels so be prepared to sleep in the car.
Just did a 2600 mile spontaenous trip last week.
Zion
Flaming Gorge
Bryce
Arches
Dinosaur National Monument
Grand Canyon
Antelope Valley
Hit Utah, AZ, NV, Wyoming, Colorado. MR2 got 27.4MPG. Watch out for stations with 85 octane gas.
Honestly, if you don't have any goals to hit along the way, just program your destination into your GPS and set it to avoid interstates.
FYI, Tail of the Dragon is closed to all non-resident traffic at NC border. Cherohala Skyway is closed. All parks near here are closing as well...
I think this might be a horrible time to go on a road trip, unless you enjoy sleeping in a car, looking at closed signs on the sights, and eating at drive throughs.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
That's how my road trips normally go, but I agree. This is a time to stay home.
We went from NY to Mt Rushmore to Nashville last year with no solid plan. We found a hotel when we got tired, hit most of the National Parks and tourist traps we passed, and it was very relaxing. The less I plan the happier I end up. Head west, google roadside attractions and go. Roadside America and Atlas Obscura have lots of odd attractions listed if you're looking for that sort of thing.
Restaurants are closed. Rest stops restrooms are closed. Most parks and attractions are closed. Visiting friends is not a thing right now.
If you can repackage the theme of this trip to be the observations of an American Pandemic, then you might have a trip to go on. Pack accordingly.
It could be a fine time for day trips though. Lots of great places to see not far from you. Cape Cod, Lake Placid, mountains of Vermont, Delaware water gap area, etc.
You should just stay home. Don't be a super spreader. Sounds trite and over the top but the quicker we all just listen and take this seriously the quicker we can get back to holidaying and racing cars.
This map may help.
Expect more of that map to turn red before your trip is complete.
In reply to Carbon :
If you wont think of the others and think more of yourself, just remember that far from home is a crappy place to get a fever, body aches and a cough. There is nothing stopping you from getting it so it is most likely that you and the person in the passenger seat will get it the same day. Once you have it, you should not go indoors anywhere other than home for 14 days. That wont be easy with 7 states between you and home.
Wasn't a matter of "not thinking of others". My thought process was that we wouldn't be spreading anything while in the car. Was planning on camping and keeping to ourselves.
In reply to Carbon :
If you can fit all of your camping gear, food for the whole trip, and are ok with never using a public bathroom, I say go for it.
Seriously, great idea, but bad timing.
Not sure if any campgrounds are open if the hotels are closed.
I guess at least out West you might be able to camp on BLM land, but I'm also in the "don't risk it" camp (err?) in case there might be further travel restrictions.
We have some new infections here from a dental conference. So someone went there with the virus and infected a minimum of 20 people, one of whom has now died. I am thinking that they are not coughing and kissing at each other at a medical conference which means it is pretty easy to get. Even taking precautions you will need to interact with people and touch toilets, door handles, grocery items, debit and credit machines etc. I am as cynical and anti establishment as they come but I am taking this seriously. That's him up top. Young healthy guy who is no different than me, which hits frighteningly close to home.
I have to echo the sentiments of others. This isn't the time. Use good judgment.
Moab is not welcoming visitors at this time. All hotels closed. You can't even camp in the backcountry. The parks are open (out of their control) but they are asking people not to come.
If anything, I think day trips are your best bet. If not, I'm airing on side of caution and think it might be good to ride this out and then travel once things ease up..
spontaneous = xxxx not planned beforehand
Denver is shelter in place right now along with some other smaller towns in Colorado along with Austin. So even though the state may not be red on that map, there are cities that are effected.
A couple I know (names will not be released to protect the idiots) decided they wanted to hang out at their Arizona house instead of Colorado. They kept saying that their remote AZ county was free of cases. I suggested that maybe it wasn't the time to go from a known infected area to a clean one, and they explained that they would be careful and wear their masks and pee standing up in gas stations or something. No thought at all about themselves being the vector.
Road trips out of your area are a dumb idea right now.
States are going to keep placing "stay at home orders". It's a good time to get things done at home, but feel free to make plans for the future.
I might be late to the party, cause I only fill the tank every two weeks or so, but when I did yesterday, I was amazed at the number of surgical gloves on the ground. First cause they were there and I had not given much thought to it, and second because why are all these shiny happy people tossing them on the ground when there is a garbage can right at the island!
Pete
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